Immediately after the horrific attacks of October 7th, we in the Jewish Federation system vowed to run two campaigns, both of which are turning out to be among the largest efforts in our history. First, we pledged to help raise the vast resources necessary to provide immediate, urgent humanitarian relief and the longer-term rehabilitation and rebuilding support that will be needed in Israel. Second, we committed to mounting the largest community mobilization in our history to ensure that Israel has the political and civic support it needs to defeat Hamas and restore safety and security to its borders.

We are keeping both promises. To date, our Israel Emergency Campaign has raised $678,595,213 and over $225M has already been deployed in Israel. And our community mobilization effort mounted the largest pro-Israel rally in history on the National Mall in Washington DC on November 14th, with nearly 300,000 marching for Israel, to free the hostages and to stand against antisemitism.

We are writing today to share three additional steps in the community mobilization campaign.

First, we were proud to stand with the Israeli Consulate to the United Nations, the World Zionist Organization, and the National Council of Jewish Women yesterday at the United Nations to call out the violence against women perpetrated by the Hamas terrorists on October 7th and since. Our National Women’s Philanthropy, Advocacy Corps, National Young Leadership Cabinet, and Jewish Federations of North America’s leadership were all there in full force, and many more thousands watched on livestream. If you have not yet watched this powerful event, you can do so here.    

Second, we have joined with many other major Jewish organizations in supporting AIPAC’s call for a national mobilization week to make calls and send emails to Members of Congress in support of Israel’s war against Hamas. We urge you to personally use this link to contact your members, to send this around to at least ten members of your family and friends, and to encourage your Federation to send the information out through its communication channels as well. All our polling shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans and the Jewish community support Israel’s right to defend itself and understand where the responsibility for this war lies. It is critical that Congress hear from that majority, as we know they are hearing from opposing voices.

Third, we are pleased to announce the 10/7 Project, a new collaboration with AJC, AIPAC, ADL, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The 10/7 Project is an organized effort to counter the disinformation about the attacks of October 7th and Israel’s response, especially aimed at the key media and government influencers. See here for more information about the 10/7 project, as well as this news bulletin that was just published. We look forward to keeping you updated on this important effort so that you can share with your own communities the work that you and every Federation together are doing to counter the outrageous media bias we have been seeing.

We know all our plates are full, but also that we must do everything we can at this critical moment to support Israel and our communities. This is surely the type of moment that our rabbis had in mind when they famously said “the day is short and the work is long . . .we are not required to finish the task but neither are we free to desist from it.”

As we approach Chanukah, we all pray that the candles we light will point us toward a brighter future for our beloved State of Israel, for the Jewish people everywhere, and for our communities and families here at home.